KDs are designed/developed/inspired/mused/auto-suggested/indigested to make folks think; an especially uncommon experience among Democrats, Republicans, and jingoistic mainline denominationalists who continue to discourage dissent with their ever-threatening thought police.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Christians and $

I don't check the
financial records/statements of the saints who gather for worship, work, and
witness in Belvidere, Illinois (FPC).

I don't even
sneak a peek at the pledge cards that we don't use anymore.

I could.

It's my, uh,
right and some pretend responsibility as a member of presbytery aka my
ecclesiastical franchise/gig/bishop/license/etc.

I know that runs
counter to what a lot of church management gurus pontificate.

I know financial
stewardship is among the best measures of a person's fidelity to God.

Checkbooks and
plastic balances don't lie.

You can tell a
lot about a person's spiritual health by how she/he spends $.

@#$%

It goes back to
The Rev. Harold F. Mante (RIP).

He was
my home pastor; and among the top ten of wisest mentors in my life.

He told me before
5/77 to keep my nosey nose out of the financial records/statements of church
members.

Depending upon
the person, he said the smell can be intoxicating or nauseating.

Moreover, he
warned me about the unavoidable prejudices that develop when an undershepherd knows what a
person gives in praise and thanks to God through His Church.

@#$%

He always had
good advice; which, uh, really worked when I paid attention to him/it.

For example, he
said I should never learn how to use office equipment: "If you're not
careful," he warned, "you'll end up running off the bulletins
too."

He also told me not
to accept keys to every lock in the church.

Think about it.

Uh, BTW, he
always said, "Think about it."

A lost art in...

Yeah, he was an
early inspiration for KD.

Moretheless, he told me to
be absolutely faithful to Jesus but never a mindless drone to anyone else
(e.g., denominations and other governments that often confuse auto-suggestion
with divine revelation).

@#$%

Maybe it's
necessary to check the financial records/statements of church members if you know what I mean.

It's never
necessary to check the financial records/statements of saints if you know what I mean.

Christians are
good stewards by, uh, Spirit.

They don't waste
any time on natural debates about tithing; knowing He expects 'em to manage
everything entrusted to 'em in ways that will honor Him.

Stewardship.

Managing
everything entrusted to us by Him - time, talent, thought, treasure - for His
glory alone.

Or as my pastor
often said, "Christianity without stewardship is about as authentic as
Christianity without faith, hope, love, or Jesus."

@#$%

I never have
problems raising $ in the Church.

I don't have to
check up on saints who keep checkin' in with Jesus.

That's why I
don't talk too much about $ in an institutional kinda way.

I just keep
askin' Christians for $ to do, uh, Christian kinda stuff; and they always,
uh, deliver.

@#$%

I spend most of
my time talking about Jesus and what it means to follow Him in a Biblical kinda
way.

Obviously, that
includes financial stewardship.

Yet I don't have
to keep pressin' it; because saints make the, uh, connection.